The First Mini-Adventure of 2012, Part 2: On a Mission

After finding and purchasing Biggie Swimmy last night, there was nothing else that could be done but to go back to the hotel, watch a rented movie on Summer's laptop, and then crash in happy exhaustion.We woke up this morning ready for more adventures, and after leisurely getting ready and having some breakfast, we checked out of the hotel and got on our way.

I'm lucky that I have two very good friends who are also interested in seeing the California Missions. Today I saw my 11th and 12th missions with Summer (only nine to go!): Mission Santa Clara and Mission San Jose.

The first stop was Mission Santa Clara, which is on the small campus of Santa Clara College, a Catholic university. The mission is lovely, and beautifully maintained.

Fantastic sign that Summer spotted as we drove to the mission.

Mission Santa Clara.

A very old adobe wall.

Curiously, there was a bowl of water and a bowl of
cat kibble...as well as some pictures of a cat.

Inside the church itself. I love the bright colors used in the mission church
interiors.

The ceiling.

Mission Santa Clara was the first mission named
for a female saint.

After Santa Clara, we set off for Mission San Jose (which is actually in the city of Fremont), stopping along the way for Greek salads.

We had to drive down Benton Street (Benton is Summer's maiden name).

Mission San Jose

It took both of us a moment to be comfortable pronouncing "Gloriosisimo."
He must have been very glorious indeed.

Short doorways, or Meg on stilts? Either way, look how skinny I'm
getting in my middle!!

With 12 missions under my belt, I've seen a lot of this
guy, Fr. Junipero Sera, the founder of the missions.

All pictures in the church are blurry because no flashes were allowed.
But you get the basic idea.

As I muttered to Summer, "Funny that they have all these pagan
Christmas trees all over the place..."

An experimentation...taking a pic through the keyhole of a very, very
old door.

I changed the setting on my camera and accidentally
got one picture with the flash. oops.

 

One last look at Mission San Jose.

After Mission San Jose, we drove back to Oakland, where I transferred my gloriosisimo new rubber duck, my overnight bag, favorite pillow, and cooler (M. the Reasonable is going to be quite proud of me for taking wise food choices and protein smoothies along with me this weekend) to Rosie Pro and hit the road for the two-hour drive back to Lincoln. 

I had a wonderful weekend with Summer, filled with laughter, chatter, catching up, and some fun adventures. I got to see three great tourist stops I hadn't seen before. Summer and I agreed that we need to have mini-adventures more often, and we have plans to find something fun to do the first weekend of February.